For You
by Impervious Marr
Summary: In his line of work, Ichimaru Gin already knew what to expect. It amused him more than terrified him - until the serial killer he's supposed to track down starts leaving him notes everywhere... AU, AizenGin.
1. First Words

**For You**

by Impervious Marr

xoxox

Summary: In his line of work, Ichimaru Gin already knew what to expect. It amused him more than terrified him - until the serial killer he's supposed to track down starts leaving him notes everywhere... AU, AizenGin.

Warnings: AizenGin, which is MxM. :3 LOL AIZEN IS STALKER XD Blood everywhere, and it's pretty gruesome, at least the deaths. Meh.

A/N: xD; Lawl, I know I'm supposed to write the other fics! I haven't even started... but it's okay. Seriously. I'm not even gonna look back at this, probably. Enjoy um, some descriptions of strange serial killing styles. Eh. o.o

I hate the story title XD And I can't pretend that it means something significant. (Actually, it does. Eh.) I wanted some strange, one-word title.

Well, lol, truthfully? Just enjoy and burn the chapter. (Or read and review. That'll be nice.)

xoxox

xoxox

_Prologue_

_First Words_

xoxox

He was on the scene of a young man's apartment.

The girlfriend was long dead and staining the carpet with her blood and blank, serene face.

He took a long, good look at the body in front of him, and hummed noncommittedly, turning away on the heels of his shoes as he checked up the status with his subordinates. He snapped at the nearest - a new girl, he realized - customary smile widening when she jumped. "Anything?"

"S-Sir?" the girl replied, unable to keep her voice steady as she took in a deep breath.

His closed, crescent-shaped eyes slanted to the side. His smile was mocking.

"Any reports, any fingerprints, any _leads?"_

She took the mock personally and immediately straightened; the antithesis of his relaxed posture.

The uppers frequently assigned him the newbies, and he did his job well in filtering out the ones who weren't cut out for the job. They thought it was effective, while he thought it was downright amusing to victimize them to his blatant sarcasm and undermining words.

This girl here had yet to pass in his eyes.

She was pretty. Shorter than average - having blue-black hair and wide, dark eyes with the defiance of a child who thought she knew everything. He wondered idly if she could stomach the sight of a murder scene - and realized that she kept her eyes carefully averted from the mangled body just paces away from both of them.

His smile never changed as she took out her notebook and leafed through the details.

"Just documentation for now, sir. A few fingerprints were found and being packaged off to the lab as we speak," she said with a bit of apprehension - along with the fear. Her face was impassive. "No signs of forced entry, no signs of struggle."

He grinned wider, amused. Her voice straightened out when she rattled it all off.

_Good._

"Don'tcha be carryin' that tone with me, hmm?" he warned her pleasantly, and her shoulders tensed at the threat, as she shrank to herself slightly.

"... O-of course, sir," she replied finally, the defiance gone and replaced with the same meekness in her voice earlier that made him shuffle away with a bit of disappointment. Pity. She has potential, but not by much that separated her from the rest. His taunting smiles and facetious undertones easily intimidated her - but then again, he intimidated almost everyone.

How boring.

He turned back to the body. The case was interesting enough that he didn't complain much when he was assigned to it, even if it was too recent that he hadn't gotten enough sleep yesterday and the day before.

The murders was more of a show than anything else - the lively splatters of blood arranged in a pattern meant to be something akin to a work of art. Two cases so far and they were in separate areas; victims unrelated but dead almost at the same time.

One hour between each.

The killer worked fast and hard.

He has yet to see the other victim.

"But - I couldn't - I don't know, _oh god_. I can't handle this - she was -"

He grimaced - he hated sad stories. That boyfriend was still crying in the background, unable to do anything other than babble and stare and bawl at the people who were trying to calm him down and ask him questions.

He turned around the body slowly, careful not to step on anything his co-workers would deem as evidence. They tended to get fussy if he stepped on a blood splatter or played with a piece of lint from the floor.

The woman was dark-skinned and she had choppy, blond hair. They weren't sure if the blood around her was her own, though - but it was as if the killer painted the shape of wings onto the floor using the blood as the _paint_, sprouting out from her shoulders. Her hair was spread out and her hands were clasped near the middle of her chest - some bountiful ones they were, he noted idly, turning to regard the whole scene as a piece of art.

It was beautifully morbid.

She wasn't stripped, no. She had very, very white clothes in an abstract design - with a high collar and her shirt cut to bare a large portion of her breasts - the blood that was supposed to be on her torso non-existant.

But it was gruesome enough. From her mouth came out startling amounts of blood. There was also a cavity that dominated one large part of her lower torso was stark against the smooth skin. It was hollow and the insides were stitched up so that it would look as if she had a natural _hole_ in her body.

Crudely sewn together with painful looking pieces of string. It thrilled him and he couldn't wait for the results back from the path lab.

"S-Sir?"

Spineless Girl was back. He turned from his admiring with only a slight frown to his face, and she shuddered noticably. Either at his expression or at the stench of the blood - he didn't know, but he didn't care.

He didn't like to be interrupted.

"What is it?"

"Er - Kuchiki Byakuya is looking for you, sir."

There was only a moment's pause before the form of a solemn, tall and broad-shouldered man stepped in between them, inclining his head politely at his co-worker. He spared a glance at the girl who backed away hastily and bowed, before skittering off.

"Bya-chan, how nice to see you again!" He teased, sticking to that childish nickname. Byakuya scowled.

"Ichimaru."

Ichimaru Gin clasped his hands at his back and grinned at his long-time acquaintance.

xoxox

They chatted about the little things only because it was courtesy to do so. Byakuya was a man who wanted to stick to society norms while Gin liked to play games before getting to the point, so they got along well enough.

"I've yet to see the other one," Byakuya muttered, referring to the other victim, and neither has Gin. He inclined his head as he stared thoughtfully at the body in front of them.

"It's a piece of art."

"You have strange tastes, Ichimaru," he replied calmly, long used to Gin's sick sense of humor. The silver-haired man merely grinned and looked at the details again and again and again, from the profile of the woman to the hair and to the _blood _everywhere, stark against the white and the white stark against the dark skin of the woman.

He couldn't help staring and he _liked _being able not to tear his eyes away.

_Pretty pretty pretty._

"You can't deny that the man's an artist, yeah?" Gin commented, tearing his eyes away - before looking back inevitably.

"How do you know it's a man?"

"Usually is." Gin stuffed a hand into his pockets and tried to dig out for a gum. His mouth itched for something to chew. Promptly popping it in his mouth, only then he continued. "A missionary? Looks symbolic."

"Hedonistic."

"You always think it's hedonistic if the victim's a chick." Gin shuffled on his shoes as he ignored the glare sent his way, before finally forcing himself to turn on his heels once again and walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Byakuya demanded, and Gin grinned.

"Fresh air's good for the body."

As he stepped outside and breathed in the cool, dirty city air, he scoffed at his statement earlier and turned to walk to his car. Maybe a trip back to somewhere with good coffee would do good on his eyes. They didn't know it, but their very own investigator was too close to wanting to fall asleep on the counter back in the apartment's kitchen.

Two days without sleep. He pulled off a week before, but that was when he was still in his rookie days.

"Maybe if I sing along, the tunes so different, and oh so wrong..." he murmured, humming under his breath as he fished out for the keys to his car. The model wasn't anything special and it worked well enough not to die. "Maybe I'll fit in with the rest of you."

The cap beeped as he unlocked it.

"Even if I never liked;"

He looked at the windshield and blinked. A parking ticket?

"The way they treated me, that's not so right -"

No.

An envelope.

With a careful look, he finally shrugged and took it off, ripping the seal abruptly and grinning as he sang the last line.

"... I can't bring myself to say out the truth."

It was a note; written out instead of typed and he didn't recognize the handwriting at first glance. It felt oddly intimate.

_**Dear Ichimaru Gin.**_

His blood ran cold as his grin froze on his face.

_**She's beautiful -**_

_**Isn't she?**_

_xoxox_

_End Chapter One._

xoxox

xoxox

A/N: The 'Spineless New Girl' was Rukia, of course. :3 And, the victim is probably obvious.

This is something I just came up with after staring at the 'Crime' genre of the fanfiction filtering tab thingy. :0 XD

Have a nice day everyone! :D


	2. Call

A/N: Playing fast and loose with Aizen's job, I know. I claim poetic license. xD

**x**

**For You**

_by Impervious Marr_

**x**

**CALL**

**x**

**x**

The fight or flight response varied in each and every human; the difference between downright cowards and fearless men was the mere ability to control the impulse to _run_.

As adrenaline pumped into his blood, he thought idly that it was the first time in _years _that he finally felt his blood curl.

A thrilling thing to feel, even as the warning bells in his head screamed at him relentlessly.

_He's around. He's around. You have to go, run, hide, __**run and hide –**_

The urge has never overwhelmed him, and never will. Who was he to give in now? Gin smoothed out the paper with a lazy swipe across with his thumb, and quickly did the same to his lips, trying not to let the lethargy slip into his bones. The lack of sleep was catching up to him quick, so he was grateful for the surprise, in the form of a note or not.

He was still deciding whether it was unpleasant or vice versa.

Turning around, he was about to pocket the unsettling paper before a sudden chill brought him up short.

_What the –?_

A hand covered his mouth from the back before he could go any further, and slammed him against the car. His head hit the roof with a sickening crack and Gin could faintly see stars in his vision. He was blacking out but not quite either; and it was too dizzying to make any sense out of.

He wanted to retch. Serves him right for getting lazy about his own defense. Faintly he realized that he was slumping down into decidedly too warm and too cold arms. The nausea that overwhelmed him made him unable to retaliate – at least, physically.

"Not –" Oh lord. Even talking was painful. He tried again, this time slower, and he couldn't help the slighting that slipped into his words. "Tha' wasn' very nice," he murmured, grimacing.

Those hands were way too comforting from an assaulter. He wanted to sleep, not be attacked by a man – oh, he could tell – that decided that Gin Ichimaru needed a good, hard slam to the head; in the middle of a dead street where he knew that if the man decided to murder him he wouldn't be interrupted much.

Life wasn't very fair.

So he immediately took on the task of summoning the strength he had left, to push _him _away, but the lack of energy was starting to show its effects. He narrowed his eyes in frustration before trying to breathe normally.

The chuckles that washed through him were filled with amusement. "All that fire. I'm surprised nobody had done this before, Ichimaru Gin."

Twice he could feel that his heart skipped a beat. The bloodcurdling feeling hit far too close to home. Gin always prided himself on how he always knew everything before everyone else, and this _man _that suddenly came out of nowhere was completely unknown to him but he _knew who he was _and that made him feel –

_Incompetent…?_

It boggled him. It never occurred once to him that he might feel that way. He absolutely refused to let the whine of pain out from his throat, but he did let his head lay to the side, eyes now completely shut as he tried to let the headache subside.

"I'm guessing I should be feeling quite lucky." The accent slipped.

The man laughed again.

"You never fail to intrigue me, beautiful. So what did you think?"

_He fucking called me fucking beautiful._

It was almost confusing for him to choke out the next words.

"What did I think about what…?"

"Her."

_And that proves it. This is the one I'm supposed to be arresting and I can't even get a goddamned good look at him. I can't even fucking keep my head up._

_Nice going, Gin._

"She was real pretty…" Gin drawled childishly, which brought another rich laugh from the man. This time it made his head spin and his insides churn.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now get some sleep. I'd rather have you wide awake for me to enjoy you, so we'll meet again, hmm?"

It was all the warning he had before his head was turned by a gentle hand and he was kissed lightly on the lips. Gin's eyes snapped open but there was a whole lot of black in his vision and not much he could see of that face.

How clever.

"And don't worry; I'll make sure you're wide awake for the next case."

He tasted like death. It burned all the way to his core.

"Good night, beautiful."

As his head was slammed into the car roof once again, Gin thought sourly that this was a rotten way to get to sleep.

**BODIES FOUND MUTILATED**

**MURDERER STILL AT LARGE**

**POLICE ADVISE**

**CAUTION**

The relentless headache returned when he woke up, so he decided that _this _was a rotten way to wake up as well.

He whined at the back of his throat, languidly searching for a reason why he woke up to the familiar ring of his alarm clock on his bedside table. And then he realized _why _he blacked out in the first place so suddenly that he immediately sat up.

He wished he didn't. Another wave of nausea hit him hard and he doubled over – the man groaned lightly, shaking his head.

The idle talk of the 6 o'clock morning radio broke him out of his thoughts. It wasn't much, but it was enough for enough.

How did he get here in the first place? The bastard probably drove him all the way – he had to check if his car was around.

"_And up in the west side of the city, bodies were found mutilated. Police are still investigating and there are still no suspects. The murderer is still at large –_"

Gin's eyes snapped open and he jumped out of the bed, immediately shuddering in pain, clutching his head. His hand strayed, trying to reach for his cell phone.

"- _**And the police advise caution**_ –"

His fingers closed around the device and he dialed a number by habit, evening out his breathing during the process.

"_Ichimaru-san._"

"What'd I miss?" he slurred, and the man on the other side sighed.

"_Did you get drunk? By the way, you're late for a meeting with Yamamoto-san. I notified that you were currently running very late._"

"Now tha's perfectly fine, Kira," he muttered, just for politeness's sake, and stumbled into his bathroom, eyes to the ground as he tried to get his thoughts straight. He locked the door and slumped against it, then looked up to the mirror.

**HELLO BEAUTIFUL**

_CLACK_

"_Sir? Sir!?"_

"I dropped my phone, Kira," he murmured absentmindedly, gripping the phone too tightly for anything to be _okay. _"I'll be in the office in a minute or two."

"_Are you sure –"_

"Hello, Kira," Gin murmured.

"… _All right, sir._" The line went dead, and so did his voice.

He stared then _shuddered _at the red words making up the message, covering his whole mirror and _screaming, screaming at him._ He approached it cautiously, and held up a finger to touch the red –

It was sticky and it stayed to his skin.

He sniffed it and turned away, shutting his eyes into a smile.

_Lipstick._

_She was beautiful wasn't she now Gin_

Rang through his head. But he couldn't remember how the voice sounded. It bothered him so much.

"How funny," he commented, getting back his usual cheer, slipping seamlessly back into his own mask.

_Now what do I want for breakfast?_

Maybe the side dish of the sudden, random insanity that was plaguing him would cut down on his appetite. True enough, he only ate half of the cold breakfast he served himself each morning.

Later after that, he immediately threw up half of the shit into the toilet, with the _HELLO BEAUTIFUL _still on his mirror and haunting his mind.

Then he checked his windows. Outside sat his car. "_What a gentleman,_" he whispered sarcastically, because it meant that the man drove his car all the way here.

**X**

He grabbed a quick cup of coffee before he went into the conference room, where the old man was explaining things to the half asleep team. The man smiled wryly at the silver-haired riddle.

"You certainly took your time, Gin."

Wide awake and headache aside, Gin smiled wider than usual and yawned for show. "Took a short break earlier."

But he was already shuffling through his papers and quirking an interest at the second victim he didn't get to see.

Immediately his mind came up with a couple of conclusions that he shot down immediately – undoubtedly the man was twisted, and he was already having a style, but he _doubted _that the murders were racial based.

Except what everyone else were probably were about to think, just because the first two victims were dark-skinned.

Sure enough, the old man confirmed his suspicions of everyone else being narrow minded bigots. Then again, they weren't assaulted by the murderer himself. "The only connections we have are the holes turning up in both of the bodies – and the fact that they're –"

_Whatever. Dark-skinned or what, this guy doesn't give a shit about race._

"– so it might be racial-driven. We can't determine that without another murder, which we don't want to happen."

He wondered when he decided to become a sociopath. He _wanted _the other murder to happen so he'd find out more about the bastard who assaulted him so that he could knee him solidly in the groin and put him behind the fucking _bars._

"The murder weapon is still not determined – the pathological reports haven't arrived yet; it's not like them to delay this… And that's it for now. Ichimaru, Kuchiki, you know what to do," the old man finished. The dark-haired man opposite Gin who has been giving him _looks _merely inclined his head.

"Of course, Yamamoto-sama."

"Both of you are dismissed. As for the rest of you…"

Gin grunted, despite having more energy, and soon he shuffled out with said Kuchiki. He made a face at Byakuya's pensive look, downing another swallow of the double espresso and dumped the disposable cup in a nearby bin. He clutched a hand to his throbbing headache – it was still there, _obviously –_ and finally sighed, plastering on another grin.

"Maa, Bya_kuya, _no need to get so uptight."

"So taking a breather meant going back to your apartment to sleep, then?" Byakuya asked, with a tinge of coldness to his words. Gin rolled his eyes mentally. The man was especially touchy when anyone slacked off, more so when they dealt with a murderer.

And since it was a possible serial killer –

_Who called me fucking beautiful, fucking hell –_

"I assure you, it wasn't that simple." Refusing to speak more on the subject, he started walking towards his office. Byakuya's was directly opposite his, so he knew the man followed a few steps behind. He bumped into his personal assistant. "There you are."

Kira smiled. He was a tall, thin man with floppy blond hair that covered one eye and dark circles that never seemed to go away. His droopy look distracted almost everyone from how sharp his gaze was – well, almost everyone. Gin tilted his head slightly. "You're angry at me too?" he asked, maybe if just teasing (if just a _bit_), and Kira's lips twitched humorlessly.

"About this morning –"

"I dropped my phone." Gin's head shifted and a little bit of his blue-green _aquamarine _eyes peered through the lashes. With nose slightly upturned and his grin spreading, it didn't take a genius to figure out that he meant, 'Drop it'.

Kira unhappily went back to his notebook, lips pursed in a frown. He shuffled into the office for a more private setting, and waited until Gin shut the door behind them. With a sigh, he took out a few papers and set them on Gin's table.

He'll read it; if not eventually.

"The woman's name is Halibel – and the other is Aaronniero. The two victims have no connection to each other, if not passing acquaintances – the boyfriend mentioned that he met Aaron a few weeks back with Halibel – he remembered by the tattooed **9 **on his forehead. Just small talk on a bus and after that nothing else," Kira recited, reading off the notes in that book of his. Gin wanted to take it and dump it into the river just to see if Kira would swim for it.

He probably would. The poor boy was married to that thing.

"Both of them were pretty average. Nothing spectacular that would indicate that they were being hunted down."

"Then _search_ for a reason why they're whacked," Gin commented offhandedly, narrowing his eyes on the empty space behind Kira's head.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Sir? Kira?" The Spineless Girl? Gin looked at her as she ran in and handed over Kira a few pieces of papers which Gin recognized – "From the Path Labs," she murmured quietly, shooting wary glances at Gin which made him chuckle in amusement.

Bemused at Rukia's behavior, Kira merely nodded and accepted the papers. "Thank you, Rukia."

"No problem." Shooting another glance at Gin, she quickly made her exit. Gin snorted with amusement, letting the blatant dislike against him slide for the moment.

"You never told me you had friends, Kira."

Long used to Gin's condescending tone, he shrugged and nonchalantly looked through his papers. "I've known her since my Academy days. She's trying hard."

It wasn't often that Kira defended anyone from Gin's rebuking comments, so the silver-haired man tilted his head. "Oh, hmm?" he murmured, letting the last of his headaches subside before he even made his way towards the chair behind his desk. His name gleamed on the metal plate on his desk – he touched it absently; a sign of how far he was from his Academy days.

How many years has it been? Seven; ten? Incredible.

He missed it. Gin relaxed in the chair to enjoy the silence – but he only enjoyed it if it wasn't too long.

"What's the matter, Kira?"

The blond was reading it avidly.

Then the man blinked, which made Gin raise an eyebrow delicately.

"You should take a look at this, sir."

"I should be, if you weren't hogging it for yourself, yeah?" Gin asked sardonically, then pouted. Kira's face was impassive as he handed the papers to him.

Maybe he should apply for another assistant. It wasn't any fun bullying someone who already knew your tricks.

The thought flew from his mind when he stared at the picture. Pictures? The one on the top was the already described tattooed **9 **on the man's forehead. The one on the bottom was obviously the woman – Halibel, was it? And the view of her neck, tattooed with a black, imposing **2**.

The style was the same. Gin cocked an eyebrow, then shook his head in amusement, or at least some semblance of it.

"So the next's victim's gonna have a number too?" he drawled, looking at the health details.

Both of them were, at least physically, perfectly normal. Body fluids were at their normal level – at their peak, really, so they must've kept their bodies at the optimum. Completely _fucking _clean. He sped through most of the other details. "It's like a take out from a B-rated crime flick."

Kira sighed, looking up to the ceiling. "You can always order Chinese."

Gin snorted, then threw the papers onto the table. "So who found Aaron?"

"His neighbor. She said he doesn't really make good friends," Kira relayed. "But he didn't make them angry either. He's a wallflower; always keeping quiet and never really leaving his house and all that."

"Unnoticed, out of sight. Wonderful. Any friends for the busty lady?"

"Still checking. The boyfriend is really touchy about privacy, but one word about his girlfriend and he bursts into a puddle of tears," Kira deadpanned, and Gin grinned at the blatant lack of empathy. He remembered his mentor.

_This job will make you numb._

"Hilarious."

"But you can check with her clients. She runs group counseling for the terminally ill… They're bound to know something?" he suggested. "I'll send the details to your phone."

_She runs group counseling._

That made Gin frown.

"You know what to do. Are they still cleaning out Aaron's house?"

"Halfway through."

"Then I'm gonna crash the party." Gin stood up and reached for his trench coat. "Now you stay out of the sun."

"Of course, sir," Kira said demurely, letting a small smile grace his lips, and Gin slipped out, turning on the radio on the way.

**POLICE ADVISE CAUTION**

It rang through the speakers like a plague.

**X**

He met Byakuya on his way out.

"Wanna come along to Aaron's place?" he asked for politeness's sake, and maybe to find out where the dark-haired man was going.

Spineless – _Rukia_ was with him.

Gin raised an eyebrow at their quickly hushed up conversation, while Byakuya smiled. It was wry and didn't reach his eyes. "Ichimaru."

The silver-haired man of recent mention gave a grin at that, and let his words fall out slowly – his individual syllables cut down to half the usual and proper amount. He let the words slur.

"Somethin' I should know goin' on here?"

Byakuya looked faintly annoyed as he ran the sentence in his head again to guess what it meant. He knew that Gin knew perfectly that he couldn't guess out street rat accents, for the life of him.

But he got it anyway. "Nothing much, we were just finishing. Are you leaving soon, Ichimaru?"

"Waitin' for ya, sweetheart. You take any longer, you drive."

He barely restrained from giving into the urge to scoff. "As always." He nodded absently at Rukia, who bowed slightly and murmured two words of thanks – before jetting off like her life depended on it. Byakuya had the look of a parent who wanted to rebuke. Gin stuffed his hands in his pockets and his eyes trailed after the girl.

"I keep seein' her around it's not even funny anymore. Mind filling me in on the blanks?"

"She's my younger sister," Byakuya replied curtly, making a beeline towards his car.

_Oh, hello._

Gin just felt his mood lift and anyone could tell; from the way he whistled.

"Your younger _sister?_ Now why haven't I heard of that eh?"

"Because I don't like talking about it, especially to you," Byakuya murmured, about to glare – before his eyes strayed off Gin's face to right behind him. Byakuya quickly shuffled. He stepped respectably back and bowed his head. "I wasn't aware you were in the area, sir."

Gin cocked an eyebrow at _this _one. Did he accidentally take some loony pills instead of the painkillers on the way to work? That would explain his headache (which was still _fucking there) _and also why everyone was acting so strange –

"No need to be so polite, Kuchiki-san," the voice behind him said with amusement and a _shitload of polite he's gotta be faking it._ Gin turned around.

He peered at the newcomer with interest. "Oh my," he drawled, masking his immediate surprise. "And how come I always see you in the press and not in person?"

Now this case just got a whole lot more interesting.

What in the name of all hells was _he _doing in here? Aizen Sousuke – when it fell out of someone's lips, what would immediately come into mind was his position as the chairman of _Espada,_ a company famous for its auctions of antiquities. He was an incredibly influential, respected person who was already making a mark on the country with his generous contributions to charity.

Nobody asked where the money came from. Funnily enough, nobody pried about the matter for too long. Maybe it had something to do with the man's disposition – a soft-spoken intellectual who never raised his voice at anything, reminding Gin of Unohana Retsu, but with a different edge.

He cut a tall, broad figure. Gin absently thought that they were probably almost at the same height, but the man probably had more muscle mass than him. He wore a severe formal suit but it didn't affect his pleasant expression much – and in that expression was where Gin saw why people trusted him so much. Wide, trusting; it somehow unnerved him.

Brown hair fell around his eyes messily, which were framed with thick rimmed glasses not unlike the style he saw around these days, but he wasn't really an expert in that area.

He was a beautiful man, and in this city, it could be equally lethal.

Nevertheless, everyone liked him, and the city was thrilled when he decided to build his own gallery for his personal collection in the area. Gin wondered why he was around.

Those eyes shifted towards him and he froze –

With sudden apprehension.

Gin blinked, bemused.

_Why?_

"A friend of yours, Kuchiki-san?" he asked pleasantly, and Gin could read the underlying curious tone the man used. He was trying to mask his intrigue, but wasn't doing a very good job at it.

But the glint of his eyes told Gin that maybe; this man didn't want to hide it so much.

"Name's Ichimaru Gin," he greeted haphazardly, forcing himself not to tense. Why was he so unnerving to him and him only? Byakuya's warning bells weren't going off in his head, and that was saying _something _when the man was more paranoid than he was. "Like I said, wasn't expecting you around. 

Urgent business?" he asked, ignoring the fact if he was overstepping boundaries. He never liked authority.

"I had some matter to discuss with Yamamoto-sama, yes," he replied perfectly and _that's _where Gin picked it up.

He didn't trust perfect one bit.

"Oh?"

Aizen smiled suddenly, and Gin sorely thought that if _this _was perfect, then he'd happily let his doubts pass.

Unfortunately, his mother always called him a stubborn little fucker. The nagging thought that this man was _more than meets the eye in a bad, bad way_ like a line from some corny movie kept him on his toes.

"Kuchiki-san once spoke about you. You have interesting friends, Kuchiki-san, you should let me meet more of them," he murmured, his voice low and soothing. Gin chuckled, if not a bit cynically.

_He just steered away from the subject._

Gin let it slide, but he gave in the urge to pout.

"Depending on how I look at it, I can take that as a compliment or an insult."

"Oh, I assure you, it was in all forms a compliment."

Gin had the sudden, irrelevant thought that he either could get along splendidly with this man or become one of those few who disliked Aizen immediately. He shuffled. "That's good to know. And will I be meeting you again, Mr. Aizen?" he pronounced slowly, just to see if he had the same mentality as Byakuya.

Aizen simply smiled wider at Gin's drawl.

"I'm sure we will. Good day to you, Kuchiki-san," he said politely and earnestly. He nodded to Gin. "Ichimaru-san."

"See you later!" Gin replied cheerfully, waving. Aizen simply went on, greeting others as he went. Gin tore his eyes away from the man and looked at Byakuya. "Don't give me that look, Bya-chan."

"Do not call me that, Ichimaru." He looked into Gin's eyes and sighed, shaking his head. "Only you, Ichimaru, would be fool enough to not act within society's standards towards one of today's most influential men," he explained, continuing his way to the car. Gin shrugged nonchalantly.

"I try not to keep up with the times."

"You should, it would save half our staff their monumental headache from just dealing with you."

"What, and lose my record for the most asshattery done in five years of service? Naw," Gin said, as if the mere thought horrified him. "I need to defend my title."

Byakuya scowled, getting inside his coupe at the same time Gin's fingers hit the door handle.

"You are the most absurd person I've had the displeasure of meeting."

"Well you got a prick shoved up in yer ass, pretty boy." Gin shut the door with a vengeance. "Now start the car."

And it was in moments like these when Gin let himself indulge in their little makeshift illusion of camaraderie.

**X**

He looked out, eyes never leaving Gin as he drove off with Byakuya.

The scowl that overtook his face was neither pretty nor pleasant.

**X**

A/N: After being so long in the story list, I figured that it needed some love. :D

Thank you to the people who have reviewed! :D

And, yo, a lil' mystery! Who is that person in the last scene? I'm sure a few of you would get it right. Don't trust the obvious!

Have a nice day.

(And my fics keep on getting these funny linebreakers in the middle. Oo I think they're the pages in Microsoft Word 2007. D: Fix it, pl0x.)


	3. Dare

A/N: I'm really sorry for not updating lately. D: I don't have any excuses for my laziness. I am sorry. -fails-

:D Thanks for the reviews, I love you guys. Especially the ones with the long ones, hahaha, really inspired me at times.

**x**

**x**

**For You**

by Impervious Marr

**3**

**x**

**x**

_**15 january 20XX**_

The screen flickered once, then twice, before it showed a picture of a nondescript room. The camera's angle was adjusted, and soon, a silver-haired man could be seen sitting on a chair opposite the camera.

He was grinning.

"Gin Ichimaru, we will now begin the questioning. Have you anything to say about your mentor's assault?"

He still grinned, and the interrogation paused for a little bit, before the other voice became impatient.

"Gin Ichimaru, we believe that you agreed to answer all our questions for this session."

"So I did. You didn't say nothin' about thinkin' a long, long time for my answers." He looked to the side, then made a jarring movement with his free hand. "Or about _lying._"

There was a distinctive part in his speech when his accent was dropped. There was a shuffle of papers and the angle of the camera was adjusted again before it continued.

"You are inclined to lie about the shooting, then?" The voice held a distinct tone of coldness.

"Now, now, I didn't say anything like that _specifically._" _His _voice held a distinct tone of mockery. Gin grinned again, then leaned back. "So, you wanna know what I think about it?"

"Yes."

"My mentor's a funny guy. You know how he is - cracking up a joke about the whore on the street, how she would've died much better in a fuckable pose. We're probably the only two guys around here that can find somethin' funny about a chick with her legs ripped off." If he was smoking, he would've probably flicked off the end at an ashtray by now.

Instead, he just simply grinned.

"Hell, who in the world likes a guy like that, except the kids who can see what he sees? Why the fuck should I have anythin' against him, especially if he had such a great sense of humor? _I like _funny guys." He touched his bottom lip with the tip of his fingernail, grin never ever leaving. "You guys _don't_. End of story. You say it's manslaughter? I say it's _murder_."

Undoubtedly the way he said it left an impression on the interrogators, who obviously took a while to process his answer.

"You're implying that his trusted assistant murdered him because he didn't like him?"

"I don't _think _so, I _know_ so. Hell, my mentor's probably the first one who saw it comin' a mile away."

"He didn't warn anyone of his suspicions -"

"'Cause you can't take a funny guy seriously," Gin cut in ruthlessly, tapping his foot impatiently against the floor. "Wanna know what I think? Really? Well, you just had to _ask._ No need for _formalities_. The assistant finally got sick of him foolin' around like that when it's supposed to be serious, and wanted to take things into his own hands. Probably especially the way my old man didn't give a fuck about who his parents were; treated him the same like the rest. That's why he shot the guy."

Another long bout of silence.

This time, a woman spoke up.

"But Ichimaru-san, the evidence clearly states that the shooting was accidental..."

She trailed off when Gin's eyes fixed at a particular spot oddly. There was a flash of his blue-green eyes before they disappeared through his lashes.

"Everythin's that's goin' exactly as planned is _accidental,_" he murmured cryptically, before he winked. "It doesn't take much to arrange a couple of thugs to assault my mentor and the assistant to play the role of hero-boy. We ain't got no heroes in the real world, ladies and _gents._ Nobody from the academy has that kind of shitty aiming either. I know that you know all of that. So spare me the stupid."

Then he leaned back in his seat.

"Now lemme go, sweetheart, 'cause no matter what, the guy who put a bullet in my old man's still gonna get it loose. He's gonna get nothin'. If anythin', all he's ever gonna get is a slap to the wrist and a 'Don't do that again'. This whole 'interrogation' is just the bullshit to make sure you've got everythin' on paper. You know how the kids are. They think they can escape every lil' thing 'cause their parents turn a blind eye over everythin' they do. In the end? They _do_ get away with it."

Gin shushed her with a finger to his lips, then grinned directly at the camera.

"So does that answer your question?"

**x**

**2; dare**

**x**

The apartment building that they were sent to was relatively normal. It was near the upper-middle class residential area; a medium-sized building made out of red and white colored bricks. Right smack in the middle between uptown and downtown, and thirteen blocks away from Halibel's place; eleven away from H.Q.

Gin took a while to taste the name on the tip of his tongue, because he knew that he better remember it.

Byakuya didn't feel like chatting up a storm with the silver-haired man, and neither did Gin. They held their silence throughout the whole journey up till the part when they got out of the convertible and got into the building. Byakuya's quick, short steps were a million ways different than Gin's lazy, easy stroll; and all the kids who got there earlier noticed it, especially the one who was supposed to bring the pair up to the fifth floor.

"Captain Kuchiki and Ichimaru," the man greeted roughly, giving a quick salute to Byakuya, and then nodding to Gin. He was a tall, broad man with long red hair and tattoos on his face - Gin lifted up the corner of his mouth in a smirk, because he was sure that Abarai Renji took a whole lot of paperwork just to get his hair to pass protocol. He had a hand in it, after all.

"_Inspector_ Renji, eh? You oughta be more careful with yer timin', it's been a while since I've seen ya and you know how Kira likes to bitch and moan about not gettin' to see his posse."

"So I've been busy," Renji said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he turned on his steps to lead the men up the elevator.

Byakuya let out a small sound of annoyance. "I still don't see the point of treating Renji as one of your own, _Captain Ichimaru._"

"We're having a little friendly chat, _Captain Kuchiki,_" Gin drawled, and then set off to ignore whatever Byakuya might or might not say by turning to the red-head who looked close to laughing. "You look as if you haven't gotten enough sleep."

"And I _haven't _been getting enough sleep," Renji muttered, rubbing the point in between his eyebrows, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I just got here from a two-hour break from my place two blocks away. Anyway - the body was the easiest, more like a quick take and go - that's why Captain's Retsu's team got out early, and she always does, doesn't she? - but the rest that came along later on is taking their own sweet time being too careful. Partly because of the way the guy died; bloodstains _everywhere_ man, I'd like to call it a warzone, really, but it doesn't look it."

Part of the reason why Gin got along with Renji was the fact that both of them were practically uncouth heathens to the rest of the department. Renji turned a short corner, and up ahead Gin could already see the tapes and the personnel surrounding apartment number 599.

"The door was wide open and one of the neighbours came in to check. She saw the bloodstains and followed it up to the body; quickly called the police by then. Body was fresh when we found it and timing's perfect with the one on the other side of the city. Hey, Capt' Ichimaru, it was a chick, right?"

"Surprised you haven't known yet. It's in the six o'clock morning news."

"My radio's busted, and I didn't turn on the TV. Heard it from one of the juniors. Wings on her back?"

"Let's keep it confidential, Abarai," Kuchiki admonished, stepping over the tape and nodding at the ones who greeted him. He entered the apartment first, followed by Renji, and quickly Gin.

_Well, well, well._

The one thing that immediately bothered him about the apartment was that it was immaculate.

Neat, clean, whatever you wanted to call it – it usually complicates matters to a degree that justifies the use of painkillers. Usually for the headaches to come.

Gin rolled his eyes as another throbbing sensation washed through his head, but it quickly subsided, signaling that it was soon to go. He looked around again, before letting his teeth show in the next grin. The rookies were gonna talk about a mysterious killer again. No clues, no signs of assault – nothing. Either Aaron-boy let him in by his own free will, or there was no 'him' in the first place.

"So this is what you meant by warzone, huh?"

Unless if he was missing something, but his sharp gaze never really missed _anything_.

The memories of a rough hand slamming his head onto the roof of a car ghosted over his skin and he shuddered. A grin was soon to follow as he plastered it onto his face before turning towards Renji.

"Well, I wasn't kidding." Renji pointed ahead, and Byakuya looked at where the rest of the team was - at the north side of the moderately furnished living room, examining the floor stained with blood drops and taking samples. It trailed all the way from a bookshelf near the balcony and went deeper into the apartment, past the first bathroom and into the bedroom.

Byakuya's face twisted into a grimace. "I see."

"Right then. Stick around if you want, be my guest, but if you're gonna leave to the H.Q., tell them that my job's done and I need to catch some 'Z's."

Gin couldn't resist a jab. "Your job's done - playing tour guide?"

"Very funny, Capt' Ichimaru. Send Ikkaku to take over for me if you want. I know how you like bullying, sir."

"I do not approve," Byakuya immediately snapped, and Gin chuckled, while Renji waved hands in front of him in a defensive, sheepish manner. Then he made a goodbye gesture, heading outside.

"Later."

"See ya."

"Are you inherently incapable of being professional, Ichimaru?" the brunet hissed, narrowing his eyes when Gin merely laughed it off.

"Any ideas yet, Byakuya?" he purred, stalking like a cat as Byakuya scowled. Gin touched a few books on the shelves near the fishtank, before his fingers graced the glass sides of the rectangular box propped against the wall. He looked at the colourful fish - oblivious to their own master's death, they swam merrily in what should be warm freshwater; Gin watched them for a while before his eyes shifted to his companion who still had to answer.

"This is most definitely related to Miss Halibel's murder, but how exactly? The timing... It's the work of a group." Byakuya narrowed his eyes. "He died of asphyxiation, according to the results from the labs. You saw the bruise on his neck in the photos. A severe trauma caused his trachea to collapse. The murderer probably slammed his neck to one of those shelves and Aaronniero tried to make his way to the bedroom..."

"Hey, hey, it can always be suicide."

Byakuya frowned. "Highly unlikely."

"Highly unlikely means it's still possible, Princess," Gin murmured sardonically. Time to take to the stage. "You know better than anybody else how funny willpower is."

It was Byakuya's turn to give him the cold shoulder. "Assuming that the murderer was the one who left the door open, it'll be safe to also assume that alerting the neighbours about Aaronniero's death was also intentional."

"Obviously."

A moment's silence passed as their thoughts mulled.

"... Do you see anything?" Byakuya asked almost hesitantly, quietly. Gin ground his teeth together as what looked to be a self-assured smirk widened on his face.

"No." _Not yet I don't._

"Ah."

"Now what's gotten your panties in a twist, Princess?"

"I haven't had the time to properly review the results from the Path Labs earlier. It bothers me to not have the full report; collecting information in another site without being able to make relations irks me."

"So why didn't you?"

"Yamamoto-sama held me back from over-exerting myself," Byakuya admitted reluctantly, and almost expected the laugh that came out of Gin's lips. Gin knew how much the fellow captain liked taking things into his own hands, reviewing the reports to make sure that his own division didn't miss anything out. The sense of individualism contrasted his beliefs of teamwork. "It is not amusing. I refuse to sit around while a killer is on the loose but as it was – I was in no position to refuse, especially when he found out that you were safely holed up inside your apartment, enjoying a few hours' worth of rest," he said, maybe with a little bit more than a little bitterness.

_And why exactly I was resting is the question you really wanna ask, Princess._

Gin graced it with a short answer.

"It's complicated," he repeated, and Byakuya scowled deeper. "Scowls aren't good on ya."

"You make me sick, Ichimaru."

"And you do too." Gin was about to turn around when his cellphone rang. He answered it without a moment's hesitation. "Hm?"

_"I was wrong. I mean, I was right, but..."_

Gin frowned at the strangeness in Kira's voice, if only momentarily, because at the next second Kira already spoke up. And at the _next _second, he was already in the outside hallway.

_"Nevermind. Halibel runs that counselling group, right? She worked with the kids down at Rukongai._"

"Ah," was all Gin could say, because Rukongai was the city's orphanage. He reasoned the strange tone to Kira's soft spot for kids. The blond came from there, after all; not to mention a few other people... And himself.

_"The guy you're looking for is Zommari Leroux. He was the one working with Halibel - he's new; only around for two years, but they've been working together since he came to this city... Damn it. They're just kids and..."_

Gin stubbed out a stray, lone cigarette on the floor with his shoe - it wasn't his, never will be. "I'm not saying they're unlucky, but if not them, then someone else."

_"It's not fair, nothing is ever fair, but this is just cruel. They're terminally ill, they're going to die."_

"Everybody dies."

_"They just lost a counsellor. I just -_"

"That's your sweet side talkin', baby," Gin crooned, with an undertone of ice, one filled with warning - _Calm Down -_ looking out at one of the windows on the far north side of the hallway. "That ain't my Kira. Where is he? Where's my Kira, _Kira?_"

"_..."_

Gin took this while to enter the apartment again, walking towards the team 'taking their own sweet time', as Renji put it, watching as they collected the blood samples.

"_I... I apologize. I wasn't - I wasn't thinking. I'm just..." _There was a pause for him to find the word. "..._ Frustrated."_

"Didn't take much for me to figure that out," Gin drawled out, as quick as a seasoned gunslinger would draw his gun and shoot. What was up with today and frustration? Was it some 'in' thing Gin didn't know about? There was a pause, a shuffle; a slight laugh from the other line. The silver-haired man predictably grinned, even as the rest of the investigation team suddenly looked wary of his presence, looming over their workspace.

Gin decided to give them a break, and went to the balcony to enjoy the view outside.

_"I'll send you the address in a while. Rukongai built a new place for the kids just recently."_

"Such a sweetheart," Gin teased, before it dropped into a low tone. "Take it easy."

_"... Thank you, sir. I'll tell them you're coming."_

_**click**_

_**beep**_

_And there's the cue -_

Gin blinked when his phone rang again. He lifted it up without a second thought, answering almost immediately.

"Never knew you're the type to forget things, Kira -"

_"Hello, beautiful."_

The split second it took for Gin to put up all his defenses again and plaster that same smile was the same second where he felt an undeniable chill run down his spine. Gin tightened his grip around the phone he held, almost breaking it into two. He moved away from the larger part of the group and into a corner of the balcony so that the others wouldn't hear. Gin took a while to take in a silent breath just to calm himself. Thankfully, his voice was as smooth as it should be.

"So it ain't enough to leave a message in rouge, _secret admirer_?"

_"I just wanted to hear your voice again."_

The line was fuzzy and the voice was unrecognizable. If it wasn't for the condenscending tone and the _beautiful_ attached to the end, Gin would've mistaken it for someone else.

"I'm not very sorry for not feelin' the same way."

_"I take it you loved the message I sent you. Don't worry, there will be more. You love games, don't you? With all your playing around with, what's his name? Izuru Kira -"_

"And you like playing around with me. Same difference," Gin cut him off ruthlessly, stomping down on the uneasiness that crept up to him. _Just how much does he know?_

There was a slight chuckle on the other end. "_But I'm so much more interesting than anything you've ever faced so far. Don't you agree?"_

"I don't exactly see the appeal of having a stalker," Gin murmured, his accent already dropping as he narrowed his eyes. "You certainly have a way with breaking into other people's houses and leaving messages fit for a love song."

_"But you are beautiful. Pale blond hair that glints with every shift of the light like silver - and blue-green eyes. Not to mention the curve of your mouth and your cold, burning lips. Quite, quite lovely._"

Gin couldn't help the shudder that ran up his spine when he heard that. "Say it right up to my face, _secret admirer_, and maybe I'll listen."

_"Now where's the fun in that?" _That _bastard_ asked almost lazily, and Gin could almost see the smirk on his face. _I'll fucking track him down._ "_To play a secret admirer, my identity would have to be a secret. Now it all depends whether I have to be the one to reveal myself, or you find out who I am."_

"Oh, I'll hunt you down, alright, with all my _pleasure_," Gin purred dangerously, touching his lower lip with a stray finger. "A game, hmm? Mind giving lil' old me a clue?"

_"You seem to be mistaken on who's the hunter in this game. __**The bread crumbs are right behind you and already set**__, my little wolf. Come and hunt me down before I claim __**you.**_"

The phone went out with a deafening beep.

Gin gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on the wall beside him. Funnily enough, the motion went unnoticed to the ones in the apartment, who already stopped collecting samples and already moving to clean the mess up. Gin hummed a little tune in his head, paying special attention to the blood drops trailing all the way from here to the bedroom, in an eerily deliberate...

_Wait._

He paced the room in a few long strides given his long legs, and entered the bedroom, where the smell of death was certainly present. He looked around the room - still immaculate, like the rest of the apartment, and unbelievably sparse with only the basic necessities in a bedroom. The stains stopped near the bed, where the deceased presumably collapsed on his bed before he died. Gin crossed his arms, trying to remember the pictures he looked through just hours ago. He snorted quietly.

_He died facin' the window, so please don't make it way obvious._

Gin strode up to the window, opening the curtains. He didn't like the feeling in his stomach when he realized there was nothing out of the ordinary. He even took the time to open the windows and look outside. Nothing that he could see from here. The breeze teased his hair as it fell into his eyes, and Gin closed them, tapping his foot.

_Bread crumbs are right behind me._

He spun immediately and was greeted with the sight of the closet door. Gin ran a hand through his hair, and caught a glance of Byakuya standing in the doorway, looking at him strangely.

"What are you doing?"

"Did anybody check the closet, Princess?" Gin asked curiously, pointing. Byakuya narrowed his eyes, and then spun on his heels to grill the investigation team. _So that answers my question. _Gin ignored the world right after that to look at the unbearably plain door, sliding a hand onto the knob and turning it.

_And there's -_

Nothing. Just some clothes for a normal, socially awkward man. Shoes to the bottom and ties hung up systematically on the wall opposite. Gin narrowed his eyes, ignoring the slight disappointment in his gut, and grabbing one side of the clothes hanging by hangers and pushing them to the side to look at the wall behind.

_Right behind me._

Gin tightened his grip on the wall before he spun on his heels, passing Byakuya - who recently arrived - with an odd frown stuck to his face.

"You might wanna get one of the boys to check tha' out," Gin said offhandedly, waving a hand behind as he passed the dark-haired man. The one in question blinked, before moving to where Gin was standing earlier. A sudden chill passed him as he read the words written on the wall.

_**RUN RUN as fast as you CAN**_

_**you CAN'T catch me**_

_**I'M THE **__**GIN**__**GERBREAD MAN**_

Even a fool would notice that it was written in blood.

**x**

"Kira," Gin replied, motioning to his phone, before Byakuya could even voice out any questions. The black-haired man cleared his throat, while Gin pressed for more words. "We're going to the Rukongai Institute. Halibel had connections there." Gin looked through his inbox for the address.

Byakuya sighed. "Seireitei Avenue, correct? I'll drop you off from here, it's on the way to the station - there was another call from H.Q. That, and I have to report in about the scene." Byakuya immediately shook his head. "We'll discuss matters later. The rest of the team will take care of the documentation. That last discovery was a... Shock, to say the least."

"How nice of ya."

"How exactly did you know how to look in the closet? Much less behind the clothes."

Gin definitely didn't miss the suspicion that carried over in Byakuya's words. He shrugged casually, glancing at the bloodstains before exiting with quick steps, right in front of Byakuya and completely missing but completely aware of the pensive look Byakuya gave him.

"The bread crumbs are right behind you, Hansel," he murmured silently, cryptically. "I just followed them."

"Ichimaru."

The call was jarring and Gin had to keep off the surprise that threatened to take over his face when he looked up to Byakuya, the one who called him.

"Is there anything you'd like to inform me about?" Byakuya asked levelly. Gin resisted the urge to grimace.

Well, as expected.

_Especially since my name was obviously underlined in that message._

A tense silence passed the both of them as Byakuya waited for an answer. Gin looked so deceptively calm with that cool facade of his - and especially the way he grinned almost nonchalantly as he brushed off Byakuya's question.

"_Nothing _at all."

It trailed off into the air. Gin turned on his heel, the uncontrollable grin spreading on his face like a parasite, unseen to anyone. It almost tore his face in half and he refrained from giving in the urge to slam his fist to the wall beside him again. Putting a little bit of the suspicion on him, making who should be his allies wary of his movements -

_Bastard, through and through._

**x**

The new Rukongai Institute was new, alright. The refurbished building blended perfectly with the maintained surroundings, and the whole scene gave it an almost picturesque atmosphere. The words 'Rukongai' graced the metal arc above the two large gates opened wide. Children and teenagers were scattered haphazardly around the gardens, caretakers with them. The lawns were spread out wide and were obviously cared for by experts - the bushes were cut to perfection, the grass mowed by an even margin. Even Byakuya was impressed by the structure. In its own way, the building gave an aura of welcomeness instead of being imposing to its visitors.

It certainly was a vast change from the Rukongai he remembered from his younger days. Gin discreetly made a face at the too-foreign building, feeling none of the nostalgia that should've been present in him. He was all too aware that the previous administration was driven out from the institution, to be replaced with a more, _caring_ crowd, he supposed.

_Looks like the funding got a boost. Someone's been pulling strings._

"Do you need me to pick you up later?" Byakuya asked from in the car, and Gin grinned.

"I'll manage. The cabs around here aren't too bad."

Byakuya nodded and was already off to the station by the time Gin turned around and headed towards the guards who stood near the gates. They tensed as he approached, but Gin gave an easy smile.

"Name's Ichimaru Gin. I'm supposed to meet up with Mr. Leroux 'round here?" he asked amiably, keeping the sarcastic undertones for a later time. The guards asked for confirmation, and after flashing his badge and his I.D., he was set to go.

Gin gave a wave towards one of the children who stared at him - and then the boy shyly waved back, ducking his head. Gin chuckled.

_At least they're doin' fine._

"And here I thought you were stuck with Kuchiki-san at the hip," an amused, familiar voice spoke up, and Gin blinked, turning his head. "I certainly didn't expect to meet up with you so soon, Ichimaru-san. And alone, at that."

Well, well. The presence of one rich bastard certainly explained a little about the funding boost Rukongai suddenly experienced. Aizen excused himself from the group of children surrounding him in favor of walking towards the one he addressed.

"Neither did I," Gin drawled, easing back into his cheer. He ignored the blatant assumption Aizen threw at him in favor of eyeing the man appreciatively. Of course he could be suspicious of the man, but it didn't mean that he couldn't have some fun while at it. "So whatcha doin' here, if you don't mind me askin'?" he purred, letting his lips curve as the man stopped about a pace's distance away from him.

_If that interest he showed earlier was a given..._

"Certainly you've heard of the generous contributions made to this institution."

"Mmhmm, and..." Gin leaned in, licking his lips sensously and smirking at the way Aizen's eyes discreetly followed. He pulled away right after, chuckling. The teasing was a nice change from the tense situation a half hour ago. "You're the man behind it, no doubt 'bout that."

Aizen laughed softly and the pleasant sound washed over Gin. The silver-haired man shuddered, unable to determined if it was a feeling he liked or not.

"Smart. What are you doing here, then? Of course, if you don't mind me asking," Aizen added, mirroring the words from before. Gin hummed tunelessly, cocking his head at the direction of the main building.

"You know I'm a detective. Can't tell you everythin', of course, but I'm checkin' out one of the leads. The murdered missy worked right around here."

Aizen looked stricken, a sympathetic look crossing his face. "How unfortunate to hear that. I heard about the news sometime ago from Leroux."

"You mean Zommari Leroux?"

"Yes. Do you know him?"

"He's the guy I'm lookin' for. You wouldn't mind tellin' me where he is, now would you?" Gin asked, letting his eyelids fall halfway into a sultry look. For a second, it was as if Gin could see a change in the other man - because Aizen responded with a timely devilish smile of his own, and those eyes behind those thick rimmed glasses _burned._

_Oh, oh, oh. Seems like there's a bad boy in this goody two shoes._

"Mmm." He leaned in close, and Gin's eyes almost flew open in surprise. Aizen hovered over Gin's parted lips before he completely missed it and tipped his chin slightly to reach his ear instead. From this distance, the scent of narcissus and orange blossom was almost unmistakable. Nobody ever really knew how Gin appreciated scents almost to the point of obsession. "_Maybe_ if you went to the immediate left hallway, straight on until the third door."

When Aizen pulled away, Gin couldn't help but bite his lip, giving a slight pout - especially when Aizen chuckled, eyes glittering enigmatically. At the end of it, Gin struggled to bite back a laugh of his own.

"Maybe, you say?"

"You _might _find his office."

"But you sound so sure."

"That I do." Aizen smiled brilliantly, before a sharp chime broke into their conversation. The man blinked and fished around for his cellphone - very latest model of some first-class phone company, Gin was sure of it - before he flipped the device smoothly. "And I'm also very sure that we'll meet again."

"How very confident," Gin murmured teasingly.

"Confidence is a necessity in my world - as also the means to support said confidence. I am not the one to believe in petty arrogance." Aizen smiled as he finished replying on his cell, slipping it inside his coat again. Before he could speak though, a man with heavily-lidded eyes and an expression close to the definition of laziness intruded, bowing deeply. He donned the clothes of a well-paid chauffeur.

"I apologize for the intrusion, sir, but your 1 o'clock is coming up shortly."

Aizen looked almost surprised. "Lunch time already? Excuse me, then. I would like to invite you to lunch as well, but I see you have your hands full."

Gin smiled wryly. "I can't possibly keep a man away from his duties."

"On the contrary, you almost define the very meaning of temptation, Ichimaru. I bid you adieu."

_How charming,_ Gin thought, and he didn't have to wonder how easily Aizen could tempt anyone to his will with that charm of his. _Very, very easy._ He watched for a bit longer as Aizen departed, before he looked back at the building, and remembering his mission from the start.

_Fun's over, then._

He smiled humorlessly and hummed to himself, continuing to wave at the little ones as he approached the two great doors of the main building, oblivious to the curious stare directed at him from the shadows.

**x**

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A/N: SOMETHING IS MISSING and for the life of me, I can'ts remember what it is! owo I had fun talkin' about different fairytales, hahaha. And something is revealed about Gin's mysterious past!? dun dun dun

Thanks for the reviews x3 I hope this chapter is long enough orz

And thank you for those who are waiting. orz I can't express how guilty I feel for letting you guys down and not updating. orz

Thanks for reading.


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